The TLDW; is: Get traction, don't be desperate, build a healthy company.
There is some discussion about timing and that it's a bad idea to raise before you have a suitable metric that indicates you are on a successful path.
The fulcrum, though, is really: don't be desperate.
How not to be desperate? Don't NEED investment capital, don't NEED more evidence, don't need anything. How to do that: customers and revenue.
That's great advice generally in life. I think on an individual basis it's important to ask yourself "what makes me desperate?"
For many of us it is the need for validation. Validation is HARD to get in the early stages.
I have two daughters (three actually, but this is about two of them). One of them has a very strong ability to get whatever she wants. She's smart and charismatic and thinks/schemes in advance about what she wants. When she gets it however, she consumes/opens/plays with whatever the thing is. She gets her validation from successfully getting that thing and wants to enjoy it.
My other daughter is far less finessed in her approach. She often doesn't get what she wants, however she doesn't want things nearly as often. Why is that? It could be partially because it's harder for her, but I also see that she is far less likely to consume/use an item. She has a place in her room and it has unopened toys, a stack of candy/chocolate. She can go there any time she wants and get an instant hit of sugar/fun/whatever. She has control.
The first kid has to give up a lot and make trades to get what she wants. The second one NEVER compromises. She'll walk before she'll trade.
If you want to "don't be desperate", then you need to understand what drives you to desperation.
Desperation is not a corporate attribute, it is the result of of our own wants, needs and desires. Raising capital is hugely rewarding in many non-core ways for a startup. It validates not just your pitch, but the founder's desire to be actualized/desired/congratulated/admired, etc.
The advice of "don't be desperate" is good advice and the solution IS customers and revenue, but before you get to that stage it is often a question of personality and personal needs. Once you make a "desperate" act however, it's very hard to come back from.
Understand your needs, check them, align them to what is best for the company.
There is some discussion about timing and that it's a bad idea to raise before you have a suitable metric that indicates you are on a successful path.
The fulcrum, though, is really: don't be desperate.
How not to be desperate? Don't NEED investment capital, don't NEED more evidence, don't need anything. How to do that: customers and revenue.
That's great advice generally in life. I think on an individual basis it's important to ask yourself "what makes me desperate?"
For many of us it is the need for validation. Validation is HARD to get in the early stages.
I have two daughters (three actually, but this is about two of them). One of them has a very strong ability to get whatever she wants. She's smart and charismatic and thinks/schemes in advance about what she wants. When she gets it however, she consumes/opens/plays with whatever the thing is. She gets her validation from successfully getting that thing and wants to enjoy it.
My other daughter is far less finessed in her approach. She often doesn't get what she wants, however she doesn't want things nearly as often. Why is that? It could be partially because it's harder for her, but I also see that she is far less likely to consume/use an item. She has a place in her room and it has unopened toys, a stack of candy/chocolate. She can go there any time she wants and get an instant hit of sugar/fun/whatever. She has control.
The first kid has to give up a lot and make trades to get what she wants. The second one NEVER compromises. She'll walk before she'll trade.
If you want to "don't be desperate", then you need to understand what drives you to desperation.
Desperation is not a corporate attribute, it is the result of of our own wants, needs and desires. Raising capital is hugely rewarding in many non-core ways for a startup. It validates not just your pitch, but the founder's desire to be actualized/desired/congratulated/admired, etc.
The advice of "don't be desperate" is good advice and the solution IS customers and revenue, but before you get to that stage it is often a question of personality and personal needs. Once you make a "desperate" act however, it's very hard to come back from.
Understand your needs, check them, align them to what is best for the company.